


Kryptonite

by Prochytes



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 10:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4915846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prochytes/pseuds/Prochytes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was textbook Two, Five reflected: brave enough to court weakness, but afraid to let anyone else in on how the date with weakness was turning out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kryptonite

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers to 1x12. Originally posted on LJ in 2015.

Five had been watching Two from the doorway of the training room for several minutes. Two had shown no sign of knowing that she was there. That, by itself, would have given Five cause to worry. What she had seen in those minutes had given her others. 

She cleared her throat.

“Are you OK?”

Two twisted, startled. Sweat had matted her hair against the sides of her face. She relaxed a little at the sight of Five; smiled wanly; and turned back to her work-out. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Five’s brow creased as Two unloaded another sluggish combination that barely shivered the heavy bag in front of her. “Because from where I’m standing, you look seriously off your game.”

“I’m fine.” Two essayed a kick; tottered; and almost fell. She clutched at the bag for support, as she caught her breath.

“Are you sick? I didn’t think that the nanites could let that happen.” Five stepped into the room. “If you like, I could…”

“Stay back, Five.”

“… get… you… some…” Five’s eyes widened as she took in the jerry-rigged cylinder set up discreetly to one side of the entrance. “Is that the mini-dampener you asked me to build?”

Two, still swinging gently with the bag, looked at her askance. “Uh-huh.”

“Are you out of your MIND?” Five rarely summoned the nerve to raise her voice at Two. But the Two in front of Five now, hanging from the bag as though she almost doubted her ability to stand without it, wasn’t quite as intimidating as usual. “The idea was never that you should switch the dampener on. I thought that you were just interested in the tech. Two, those things really hurt you. Why the hell would you work out next to one?”

Two sighed; bowed her head; and turned to face Five properly. “Do you know why Four practises some of his katas with his eyes closed?”

“Because he knows they make him look way cool?”

“Because he might have to fight when he can’t rely on his usual advantages.” Two shuffled from the bag to the weights bench, with a deliberation far removed from her wonted casual grace. “And maybe a bit of the ‘looking way cool’ as well.”

“This is some kind of crazy deprivation training?”

“It’s not crazy.” Two sat on the padded rest and inspected the bar. To Five’s (admittedly inexpert) scrutiny, it looked to be laden with approximately half of what Two typically benched. “Rook used the dampening field to make me useless. Worse than useless – a liability. I can’t let all of you down like that again.” She settled back on the bench, and grasped the bar. “Spot me.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good id…”

“Spot me.” Dawdling nanites hadn’t blunted Two’s death glare.

Five bit her lip. “OK.” She took up a position at Two’s head.

“Thank you.” Two lifted the bar out of the rest. It didn’t drop like a rock, to Five’s relief, but it went down fast. Two winced as she brought it to a trembling halt just above her chest. 

Seconds passed. Five watched sweat bead upon Two’s brow. Her instinct was to intervene, relieve the strain. But Four had learnt the lesson, during his long tuition in courtesy and bloodshed, of when to allow others the dignity of fighting their own battles. Some of that still rattled around inside Five’s head. For the moment, it stayed her hand. 

Two drew one shuddering breath and then another. She slowly forced the bar back up to its rest. Two closed her eyes and slumped. When she reached up to grip the bar again, she felt Five’s small fingers close around her own.

“Enough. All you’re doing is scaring yourself.”

Two opened her mouth to remonstrate; saw Five’s expression; and sighed. She released the bar and, after a couple of goes, managed to sit upright. Five took a seat on the bench beside her. 

“How does it feel?”

Two wiped her forehead. “Like everything got heavy. Everything. I have no strength, no speed, no stamina. I feel…” 

“Helpless?” Five rested her head against Two’s shoulder. Two tensed for a moment, but did not push her away. “Welcome to my world.”

Two frowned. “You just reverse-engineered a machine that could take me out based only on what the Android told you about it. You’re not helpless, Five. I never thought you were.”

“Neither are you.”

“What else am I if I can’t fight?”

“You didn’t save the settlers and us from Ferrous with your kung-fu.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Two’s gaze was still distant. This was textbook Two, Five reflected: brave enough to court weakness, but afraid to let anyone else in on how the date with weakness was turning out. Five made a decision, and reached for a pair of gloves. Two watched warily as she began to pull them on. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? You need to know how, if necessary, to fight like a scared little girl. Fortunately,” Five finished pulling on the gloves, and spread her fingers to inspect the effect, “you have a very experienced sensei.”

Two finally smiled for real. “You’re not serious.”

“Try me.” Five stood, and assumed a passable guard stance. Four’s instruction, Two noticed, was beginning to pay off. “How often do I get to throw down with anyone around here that I might be able to take?”

Two’s grin broadened. “I’m weakened from the dampener, Five. Not comatose.”

“You sure about that? Hate to break it to you, Two, but I saw you punching that bag just now. Inside a suppressing field, you hit like my grandmother.”

“You’re an orphan.”

“You hit like my _dead_ grandmother.”

Two laughed, and took up a position in front of Five. “Them’s fightin’ words, little girl.” She raised her fists, and touched them lightly against Five’s. “You got anything to back them up?”

Five smiled radiantly. “Bring it on.”

FINIS


End file.
